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Tasty & Healthy Nuggets, Issue #006. The green, green vegetables of health.
October 24, 2024

Hello,

"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." Virginia Woolf

I have done two food demonstrations this month, and before starting to cook, I talk about certain foods that I think are extra important to include in our diets.

High up on that list are cruciferous vegetables, which are all rich in vitamins, minerals, fibres, and antioxidants. These vegetables also contain glucosinolates, a compound that may help fight cancer.

• Asparagus

• Aubergine

• Beansprouts

• Broccoli

• Brussels sprouts

• Cabbage

• Cauliflower

• Celery

• Courgette (zucchini)

• Cucumber

• Endive

• Fennel

• Kale

• Lettuce

• Mangetout

• Mushrooms

• Onions

• Peppers

• Radish

• Rocket

• Runner beans

• Spinach

• Spring Onions

• Tenderstem broccoli (broccolini)

• Tomato

• Watercress

Not only are all of these vegetables incredibly healthy, they are all also very low in calories.

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The different dishes I cook during these demonstrations are all from my ebook, "A Tasty & Easy Way to Healthy Eating".

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Dark Green Vegetables

While all of the above-listed vegetables are good for you, I always recommend including some of the dark green variety of these vegetables on a daily basis, like broccoli, arugula/rocket leaves, watercress, kale, and spinach.

These vegetables are rich in certain vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that protect cells and play roles in blocking the early stages of cancer.

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I add vegetables like sliced broccoli and shredded kale during the last couple of minutes of cooking in dishes like curries and casseroles.

Using dark green leaves like arugula, watercress, and kale together with basil, garlic, some nuts and seeds like walnuts, cashews, pumpkin seeds, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, and olive oil makes a very tasty and healthy pesto.

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I make my quick, easy, super tasty, and healthy pea and ginger soup by adding a fair amount of either watercress or arugula/rocket leaves before using a stick blender to blend to a smooth soup. This soup never fails to impress, both for how quick it is to make and how tasty it is.

Recipe Of The Month - vegetable and quinoa stir-fry

When cooking for myself, I often make a stir-fry with different vegetables and add some cooked quinoa at the end.

I just use what vegetables I have at home, and I often eat the stir-fry with an oven-roasted salmon or trout fillet.

For a vegetarian version, you could crumble over some feta cheese.

This is what I used for my stir-fry in the photo, which was incredibly tasty if I may say so myself. 😄

2 tablespoons avocado oil for frying (you can use olive oil)

5 broccolini/tenderstem broccoli spears, finely sliced

5 Brussel sprouts, finely sliced

1/2 small sweet potato, coarsely grated

1/2 red pepper/bell pepper, sliced

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Black pepper

1/2 cup, 75g cooked quinoa

Heat up some oil in a wok or frying pan and once the oil is hot, add all the vegetables, ground ginger, salt and some black pepper and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the cooked quinoa and continue to stir-fry for another minute until everything is piping hot.

Well, that’s it for this time. Thank you for reading Tasty & Healthy Nuggets. See you again next month.

Happy cooking!

Margareta Wiklund

Comments? Ideas? Feedback? I’d love to hear from you. Just reply to this zine and tell me what you think.

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